Women's Soccer to Open Big Sky Play at Sac State, Home vs. Vikings

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Following a .500 non-conference season and a
week to rest, Northern Arizona begins defense of its Big Sky title
at Sacramento State on Friday and home against Portland State on
Sunday. The Hornets and Vikings were two of three Big Sky teams to
post winning records during the pre-conference season. Admission is
free for Sunday's contest, with parking available at the NAU
Bookstore. The new entrance will be located on the south west side
of Lumberjack Stadium.

Scouting Sacramento State

The Hornets are unbeaten in their last three games, including a 1-0
upset of No. 10 California in Berkeley last Friday. In its last
game on Sunday, Sacramento State tied San Jose State, 1-1, and the
Hornets are undefeated at home this season with a 3-0-2 record.

Junior Cori Shreve leads the team with three goals and two assists
for eight points and also leads the the squad with 18 shots. Junior
Leah Larot has also scored three goals while sophomore Elece
McBride has two goals and leads the team with three assists.
Sophomore goalkeeper Savannah Abercrombie has been named Big Sky
Defensive Player of the Week three times this season and leads the
conference in goals against average (.63) and save percentage
(.873) and is tied for the lead in shutouts (5).

The Lumberjacks have won three of their last four meetings with the
Hornets, including a 2-0 win in Flagstaff last season, but have not
won in Sacramento since 2003. NAU holds an 8-5 advantage in the
all-time series.

Scouting Portland State

Portland State has won two-straight games, including a 2-1 win over
Gonzaga last Sunday in Portland. The Vikings opened 2009 with a 1-0
win over Oregon State in Corvallis and also have road victories
over Wyoming, North Dakota State and Utah Valley.

Senior Dolly Enneking is second in the Big Sky with seven goals and
15 points and is the defending Big Sky Offensive Player of the
Week. She also leads the Big Sky with 33 shots and is tied for the
conference lead with two game-winning goals. She is the only player
on the team with more than one goal this season. Senior goalkeeper
Cris Lewis is tied for the Big Sky-lead with five shutouts and is
second in the conference in goals against average (1.16) and saves
(69) and third in save percentage (.831).

NAU beat Portland State, 1-0, in the Big Sky tournament semifinals
last season after the teams played to a 0-0 tie in Portland during
the regular season. The Lumberjacks are 8-4-1 all time against the
Vikings.

Go (Back) to Your Corner!

In the last three games of the Lumberjacks five-game homestand, NAU
attempted an astounding 30 corner kicks while allowing only seven
to the opposition. NAU attempted 11 corner kicks in each of their
games against Embry-Riddle and New Mexico State, scoring three
goals off those attempts, and added another corner kick-goal
against Murray State.

However, in Northern Arizona’s last two games, the team
attempted just three total corner kicks while allowing 12. Those
numbers go hand-in-hand with a sharp decrease in shot attempts, as
NAU had taken 72 shots in the previous-three games but attempted
just 10 shots in the two road contests.

The team was outshot 52-10 in their two games at New Mexico and
Arizona State, and only attempted one total first half-shot in the
pair of games. The Lumberjacks also only put five shots on goal
during the road trip, but were able to score twice against the
Lobos in their 2-1 win.

Unbelievably Even

With a 5-5-1 non-conference record, the Lumberjacks season has been
statistically even, with an equal number of wins and losses and one
tie, which is the game-equivalent of being equal. But the even
numbers go beyond just the record of the team:

This season, NAU and its opposition have the exact same number of
saves, 51. NAU and its opposition have the exact same number of
fouls, 88. NAU and its opposition have the exact same number of
second half goals, 8. And NAU and its opposition have the exact
same shots-on-goal percentage, 12%.

The combined record of NAU’s non-conference opponents this
season: 65-62-16, just 1% away from being .500, the statistical
equivalent of even. Hopefully the statistical anomalies will break
in the Lumberjacks favor in the Big Sky.

Like a Rock

The only player to start every game for NAU this season and the
Lumberjacks leader in minutes played, junior Kristi Andreassen has
been a model of consistency and durability along the Northern
Arizona back line. As a defender, Andreassen is second on the team
in shots (24) and, perhaps more impressively, second in shots on
goal (10). She is the de-facto taker of free kicks for the
Lumberjacks, and has come close to scoring goals from midfield or
beyond throughout the season.

At 5-11, she is also NAU’s best weapon on the receiving end
of corner kicks, and scored her lone goal this season off a corner.
In addition to her strong leg and offensive abilities, she has
anchored the Lumberjack defense and has played every minute in
eight of 11 NAU games this season.

The Tempe, Ariz. native was the only Lumberjack to start every game
in 2008 as well, becoming only the fourth NAU player to be named to
the All-Big Sky First-Team, and appears destined for a second Big
Sky First-Team selection and perhaps conference Defender of the
Year in 2009. Oh, and she has a perfect 4.00 GPA in her Northern
Arizona academic career.

Like a Rocke

Following off-season shoulder surgery, sophomore goalkeeper Tori
Rocke was forced to sit out NAU’s initial three games of the
season. Upon her return to the Lumberjack goal, Rocke endured some
early struggles, allowing three goals to Loyola Marymount, one goal
on just three shots against Oakland, and four goals against
Iowa.

Since then, the sophomore from Garden Grove, Calif. has appeared to
regain her form from a year ago that led the team to the NCAA
Tournament and earned Rocke All-Big Sky Honorable Mention. After
sitting out the Lumberjacks game versus Embry-Riddle, Rocke made
three saves in a 3-1 win over New Mexico State, four saves in a
shutout of Murray State, and seven saves in a 2-1 upset of New
Mexico. She did allow four goals in the Lumberjack’s 4-0 loss
to Arizona State, but made six outstanding saves while facing 24
shots two days after New Mexico fired 28 shots on the NAU goal.

In just her second season in the NAU goal, Rocke is already fourth
in Lumberjack history with 169 career saves and is fifth in
shutouts with eight. She led the Big Sky in goals against average
(.40), save percentage (.938) and shutouts (4) in conference games
last season, and the Lumberjacks will hope for similar numbers for
a successful title defense in 2009.

Happy Helpers

With one assist this season, senior Sarah Neatherton has moved into
a tie for second-place on NAU’s career assists leaderboard
with 15 career helpers. She trails all-time leader Cee Cee Odorfer
by just three assists.

Meanwhile, junior Brenna Boies’ conference-leading five
assists in 2009 have given her a career-total of 12 dimes , which
puts her in a tie for sixth on the all-time list.

In a look at other career records being challenged, Neatherton has
moved into fourth-place in career shots (132) and sixth in career
points (29). As mentioned before, sophomore goalkeeper Tori Rocke
is fourth in career saves (169) and is fifth in career shutouts
(8).

The Wounded

In the Lumberjacks 2-1 win over New Mexico on September 25,
sophomore midfielder Lauren Zallis became the latest on a long list
of Lumberjacks to sustain season-ending injuries. Zallis joined
sophomore goalkeeper Natasha Slaughter as NAU players to sustain
season-ending knee injuries during the 2009 season, though the
injury bug hit the Lumberjacks before the season even began.

Senior and team-captain Sarah Vallen endured a season-ending knee
injury of her own just before the Lumberjacks first game of the
season. Also yet to play this season due to injury are senior Kara
Vitacca, sophomore Ethi Ethridge, and freshman Jennifer Beaudoin.
Now that Big Sky play is set to begin, Northern Arizona will have
to play without its fallen players and hope the current squad can
remain intact.